1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to providing a label to a customer or user, the label includes address information, postage indicia and a delivery confirmation barcode. More particularly, it relates to systems and methods for providing software tools to allow a user to make an online request for a label, generate the label in conjunction with a postage vendor, and return the label to the user. The user may then print the label and attach it to a mailpiece. The mailpiece may thereafter be placed into the mailstream, for example the mailstream provided by the USPS for delivery of the mailpiece to the recipient specified on the label.
2. Description of the Related Art
The United States Postal Service currently provides on-line services to Internet users through the USPS Web Tools system. These services enable e-tailers to embed USPS shipping functionality into their e-commerce web sites. These USPS services went into operation in August of 1999. Enhancements are continually being added. The on-line services offered as of December 2001 include track/confirm services, address checking, domestic and international postage rates, and shipping labels, among others.
The current USPS Web Tools system provides Application Program Interfaces (APIs) which allow developers of web-based and shrink-wrapped applications to gain access to these on-line services. In order to take advantage of these services, a software developer may visit the web site http://www.usps.com/shipping, click on the Web Tools link, and then Register for access to the APIs. Some of the resources provided by the USPS Web Tools system are web tool registration, documentation, XML code samples, resource links, and an XML test server. A registered user is assigned and e-mailed a uniquely generated user ID and password, which grants access to the programming documentation and the Web Tools system APIs.
One of the specific services that the USPS currently provides relates to labeling. The USPS allows a user to develop shipping labels with a return address delivery address, and a delivery confirmation barcode electronically via the USPS Shipping API system. The USPS Shipping API system provides software interfaces for accessing USPS shipping information over a network. The shipping information may include, but is not limited to, postal rates, mail tracking information, service standards, and issuance of delivery confirmation barcodes. The network is preferably the internet; however, any type of network known to those skilled in the art may be used. A delivery confirmation barcode includes information about the delivery point of a mailpiece and may be used to track the mailpiece in a mailstream.
In addition to the above-mentioned web tools, the USPS also authorizes postage vendors, such as PC Postage Vendors, to provide an IBIP (Indicia Based Information Program) or postage indicia electronically via the internet. The IBIP may be printed on, for example, an envelope or a label, to indicate postage payment. At present the IBIP is not seamlessly integrated into the other USPS web tools. A user who wishes to obtain postage electronically and who also wishes to access the available USPS electronic services must separately access these functionalities.
Postage cannot be sold on credit. Therefore a PC Postage Provider may offer the user the ability to charge a credit card and place the escrowed funds in a “Pre-Paid Postage Account”. Most providers charge a flat monthly fee for providing their services. For promotional purposes, some providers may give a modest amount of ‘free’ postage when registering with them. When the user buys Indicia, funds are drawn from the Pre-Paid Postage Account, and some providers add a surcharge onto the postage amount. The user adds funds to their Pre-Paid Postage Account by re-charging their credit card. Providers may be permitted to charge a minor percentage for refunded transactions, or a minor fee when an account is closed.
Users can perform additional functions, such as obtain the balance of their Pre-Paid Postage Account, obtain a transaction history, update their registration information, and/or close their Postage Provider account. Most of these transactions either involve the perusal of financial data or the direct movement of funds.
In general, the USPS Web Tools system should duplicate the overall utility of each of these financial transactions in order to accommodate the needs and expectations of both the consumer of the services and the Provider of the services. With that in mind, a number of modular components, APIs may be built onto the front-end of the Web Tools system to produce a Shipping Label With PC Postage, and to support its production.
The new Shipping Label With PC Postage service introduces several key differences over the other free USPS Web Tool services currently being offered: It involves numerous participating PC Postage Providers on the back-end (while providing the consumer a common interface on the front-end), involves a deliberate selection of a PC Postage Provider by the consumer, involves the transfer of financial information between a consumer of the service and their selected PC Postage Provider, and addresses additional security concerns to protect sensitive data. By constructing the USPS Web Tools system to be the common middleware for the consumer of this new service, the consumer is shielded from the complexities and nuances of dealing with the business processes, security arrangements, and software configurations of the various PC Postage Providers.
Besides simplifying the USPS Web Tools interfaces so that the consumer need not be concerned about the complex effort to communicate with each PC Postage Provider in order to print a Shipping Label With PC Postage, there are other benefits to the consumer of the Web Tools services: By having multiple PC Postage Providers participate, the consumer need not be concerned about the possible impact to their business if their chosen Postage Provider should suffer extensive system downtime, experience a disaster, or decide to exit from the IBI business, since the consumer can easily select another Provider. The USPS Internet Customer Care Center will provide a single point of contact for customer support.
This design also enables the Postal Service to deliver an expanding set of easy to use on-line services through a familiar interface. Besides the benefits for the consumers, there are also many expected benefits of this new Shipping Label With PC Postage service for those PC Postage Providers who choose to be included in the back-end fulfillment of this service. Hopefully they will realize: reduced customer acquisition costs (since this service will generate new customer accounts electronically), reduced customer support costs, increased revenue (since the volume of generated Indicia will increase, and the dollar value for package Indicia far exceeds that of a first-class letter), and increased reach and market expansion.
It is accordingly desirable to allow a user to make a request for a label that includes address information, a postage indicia, and a delivery confirmation barcode, generate the requested label, debit a prepaid postage account for the cost of the label, and send the label to the user. This is achieved by providing systems and methods for a label with postage application programming interface (“API”), which provides software interfaces to intermediaries and postage vendors to facilitate the generation and distribution of labels that include address information, postage indicia, and delivery confirmation barcodes.